Plasma Vision v 2.0

[Martin Flöser]

Am 2017-06-12 01:19, schrieb Aleix Pol:
> On Sun, Jun 11, 2017 at 11:13 PM, Jonathan Riddell <jr at jriddell.org> 
> wrote:
>> 
>> Yay, I like it.
>> 
>> Across different operating systems? We don't do anything on Windows or 
>> Mac.
>> 
>> Jonathan
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Jun 09, 2017 at 09:40:28AM +0200, Jens Reuterberg wrote:
>>> Time to get back to the vision.
>>> 
>>> ---- Plasma Vision 2 ----
>>> 
>>> Plasma Desktop is a cross device work environment where total trust 
>>> is put on
>>> the user's capacity to best define her own workflow and preferences.
>>> 
>>> Plasma is simple by default, a clean work area for real world usage 
>>> which
>>> intends to stay out of your way.
>>> Plasma is powerful when needed, enabling the user to create the 
>>> workflows that
>>> make her more effective to complete her tasks.
>>> 
>>> Plasma never dictates the user's needs, it only strives to solve 
>>> them. Plasma
>>> never defines what the user should be allowed to do, it only ensures 
>>> that she
>>> can.
>>> 
>>> Our motivation is that we enable actual work to happen, across 
>>> devices, across
>>> different operating systems, using any application needed.
>>> 
>>> We build to be durable, we create to be usable, we design to be 
>>> interesting.
>>> 
>>> ------------------------
>>> 
>>> Reasoning behind the vision:
>>> The key aspects of it is that Plasma is "Cross Device" - we state 
>>> that as
>>> clearly as possible. "Simple by default, powerful when needed" has to 
>>> be
>>> repeated within it to hammer that in as that is, in many ways a 
>>> communicative
>>> tool we really want associated with Plasma.
>>> 
>>> Removed Desktop Environment after last one as that was seen as too 
>>> much
>>> "computer" and too little "Mobile" etc.
>>> 
>>> The focus is "work" and "tasks", IRL stuff focusing on a user that 
>>> needs to
>>> solve an actual problem instead of an attempt to create further ones 
>>> through
>>> complexity. At the same time we want to ensure that we never strip 
>>> the user of
>>> options (this is one of the weak points in the vision - more on that 
>>> below)
>>> 
>>> Finally its the poetic vitruvian line at the end: Firmitas, Utilitas,
>>> Venustatis. That something is "well built" or "durable", that 
>>> something is
>>> "usable" (from a users perspective easy to use) and finally 
>>> "beautiful" or
>>> interesting to use - inspiring usage. Build/Create/Design is intended 
>>> not as
>>> work roles ("designer" etc) but something we all do ("designing the 
>>> system"
>>> for example).
>>> 
>>> ------------------------
>>> 
>>> Feedback, spellchecking, grammar checking and just "yay" or "neigh" 
>>> wanted.
>>> 
>>> /Jens
> 
> Plasma Desktop doesn't work on Windows/OS X, but we know our users
> will be using different systems on different machines: maybe Android
> or iOS on the phone, maybe OS X or Windows at work or at home.
> When developing Plasma we need to keep that in mind and leverage it.

Nevertheless we shouldn't give users hope of having Plasma available on 
Windows, OSX or iOS. Even for Android it does not look like any part of 
Plasma could be available anytime soon.

Given that I'm also very uneasy with the formulation of operating 
systems. Personally I would like to not see operating systems mentioned 
in the vision. Personally - as most know - I wouldn't mind if we would 
only support Linux (and maybe, maybe the BSDs). Given that at least for 
me this part of the vision is not fitting and nothing I strive for with 
my work.

Cheers
Martin